IPL 2020: 'The Delhi Capitals batsmen fell like a pack of cards' - Aakash Chopra on DC's loss against the Sunrisers Hyderabad

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has stated that the Delhi Capitals (DC) batsmen did not provide much resistance and succumbed like a pack of cards in yesterday's IPL 2020 encounter against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

He made this observation while reviewing the Shreyas Iyer-led side's massive defeat against the Orange Army in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

Aakash Chopra started by criticising the Delhi Capitals bowlers for not resorting to short-pitched bowling in the Powerplay overs, despite having been smashed all over the park and having the express pace of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje at their disposal.

"Delhi did not bowl a single bouncer. They got hit so much with 75-odd runs scored in the first 6 overs but they didn't bowl a single bouncer with Nortje and Rabada in the team. I mean why would they not bowl bouncers."

The reputed commentator observed that the Delhi Capitals had put up a lethargic bowling and fielding display, something that was out of the norm.

"Their bowling and fielding looked slightly listless. It is not generally the case that the Delhi Capitals' fielding is not good."

The former KKR player highlighted that Rabada had failed to pick up a wicket after 25 IPL games, with the other Delhi Capitals bowlers also not proving to be penetrative.

"Rabada did not get a single wicket, it happened after 25 games. Ashwin picks up a wicket with the one ball he bowled slowly and that's about it. They were unable to pick wickets and the opposition scores 219 runs."

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Aakash Chopra on the Delhi Capitals batting effort

The Delhi Capitals sent Stoinis and Hetmyer up the order in yesterday's encounter [P/C: iplt20.com]

Talking about the Delhi Capitals run chase, Aakash Chopra pointed out that their batsmen were blown away with a flurry of wickets at the top of the order.

"After that, the Delhi Capitals batsmen fell like a pack of cards. By the time they reached Saha's score, six players had got out. They were 87/6 and Saha alone had made 87 runs."

He observed that the Delhi Capitals' decision to send Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer up the order to save them from Rashid Khan had proved to be counterproductive.

"They altered their batting order to save some of their batsmen from Rashid Khan. No one can save anyone in this game, this we have learnt again and again. Tactically when you alter the batting order so much, it tends to backfire and that's exactly what happened."

Delhi Capitals reshuffled batting order makes so little sense. The skipper should have been walking in at #3.

— G Rajaraman (@g_rajaraman) October 27, 2020

The 43-year-old highlighted that the Delhi Capitals were too dependent on Shikhar Dhawan in their batting, with Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant not firing.

"Delhi will have to do something because if Dhawan scores runs they do well but he got out in two matches, Rahane is not making runs, Shreyas Iyer has lost his form a little, Pant has not made too many runs this year till now, then how will they win the match."

Delhi Capitals' middle overs batting is a huge cause of concern with two more league matches left this season.#DelhiCapitals in Overs 7-15First 9 MatchesAverage - 46.6, Scoring Rate - 8.62 rpoLast 3 MatchesAverage - 20.0, Scoring Rate - 6.6 rpo#IPL2020 #SRHvDC

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) October 27, 2020

Aakash Chopra signed off by stating that the Delhi Capitals will have to turn things around quickly as they seem to be falling apart in the crucial phase of the tournament.

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"Things are going pear-shaped for the Delhi Capitals at the wrong time, in the business end of the tournament. I really hope that they come back stronger in the next game."

After yesterday's thrashing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Delhi Capitals have slipped below the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2020 points table, with their net run rate taking a massive hit.

With the perennial underachievers in the IPL set to face the Mumbai Indians and Virat Kohli's men in their last two encounters of the league phase, they would have to lift their socks to ensure a spot for themselves in the playoffs.